One Power System
One Power System This is the system that is used as a guide to role-playing the One Power in the officially sanctioned Dragonmount Portal Stone Worlds (including the Age of Legends Portal Stone World and the Dragon Reborn Portal Stone World). If you have a channeling character, it is essential that you familiarize yourself with it. It may seem complicated at first, but it is really quite simple. If you do find yourself really struggling with it, ask your Division Leader(s) for help first, followed if necessary by talking to the Incarnations in charge of your Portal Stone World. The purpose of the system is to bring about a greater degree of order and certainty to role-playing the Power, so that everyone is clear on what they can do. It is also intended to reduce the amount of abuse, by clarifying what is not possible. A final aim is to actually improve role-playing by giving firm guidelines on how channeling characters can be developed. It’s important to note however, that the scores that are assigned to your character are not the be-all end-all of every situation! Despite a character being exceptionally strong in the Power and exceptionally skilled in their use of it, they can still be beaten in the right situation (more on this later). Before actually going into the system, it is advisable that you read the previous article on the One Power; it is assumed that you understand everything covered there, and we will not go into great detail explaining terminology. The system is also written from the point of view of determining a fully-fledged channeler. Note that those not fully-fledged in their particular channeling org (ie, Asha’man, Wise One, Windfinder, Dreadlord, Aes Sedai) will be weaker than this, as explained below, and may not have manifested their Talent(s) (also note that not all characters will have Talents!). There are four things to be determined with a channeling character; those are the character’s strength in the One Power, aptitudes in the five elemental Powers (which is interdependent with overall strength), their skill in the One Power, their overall Potency in the One Power (which is dependent upon a combination of skill and strength) and any Talents they may possess. Some important changes to note if you’ve been using Dragonmount’s channeling system for a while are listed here. You might want to look at areas that specifically refer to them. Primarily, Skill is now rated out of 50 like Strength, and the two combine to produce another score, Potency (please read the section on Potency). ALL scores are now randomly assigned (with exception to some book characters, including the Forsaken and major characters including the ta’veren). These random assignments DO NOT include the split up of Strength into the Five Powers and any Talent assignments. Some Talent changes may take place, however the staff are endeavouring to keep as many of them as possible. You will be approached individually if there are any problems with your Talent(s) by an Incarnation. Strength and the Five Powers (You will note that throughout this document, affinities or elements are often interchangeable with references to the Five Powers.) The Five Powers are natural affinities for each of the five elements, Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Spirit. As you may already be aware, male characters are more likely to be strong in Earth and Fire, female characters in Air and Water. All 5 Powers added together give overall strength in the Power. Overall strength is rated out of 50, with each of the Five Powers rated out of 10. Average affinity for any given one of the Five Powers varies dependent on gender, with men having greater relative affinity for Earth and Fire, women for Air and Water, and the affinity for Spirit fairly equal between the two (relatively considering males are stronger than females to start with). Upon approval of your character biography, you will be randomly assigned your Strength score. As you should be aware, women are generally speaking weaker than men in the One Power. To account for this, the average (mean) One Power Strength score for women is set at 28. The average Strength score for men is set at 32. The random generation of statistics means that most Strength scores will be centred around the averages for each particular gender, with fewer and fewer people having scores that are further and further away from that average (thus, extremely weak and extremely strong channelers are less common than “average” channelers). Male scores range from 26-38, Females from 22-34 Once you have your Strength score, you are free to assign your character their Five Power breakdown. Your score must be split five ways, and depending on the score you want you have to spend a different number of Strength points. The tables below list the different elemental score costs for males and females. You’ll note that some level scores you simply cannot purchase and these are labelled “not available”. Males: Element Score Fire Cost Earth Cost Spirit Cost Air Cost Water Cost 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 8 9 9 8 8 8 10 12 12 9 10 10 12 14 14 10 12 12 14 16 16 ' Females: ' Element Score Fire Cost Earth Cost Spirit Cost Air Cost Water Cost 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 7 6 6 6 7 9 9 8 7 7 8 12 12 10 8 8 9 14 14 12 10 10 10 16 16 14 12 12 Average distributions for males (strength 32) and females (strength 28) respectively are shown in the following table: Score Male Female Earth 8 4 Fire 8 4 Air 5 7 Water 5 7 Spirit 6 6 Total 32 28 Here are a few more examples on creating your character elemental breakdown: A female is randomly generated 30 Strength points. She would refer to the table for females above. She wants to be unusually strong in Fire. She distributes her 30 points as shown below, and sacrifices some of her overall strength to be stronger in fire (thus, her end result is a Strength score of 26): Air - 6 (cost 6 points) Earth - 1 (cost 1 point) Fire - 8 (cost 12 points) Spirit - 5 (cost 5 points) Water - 6 (cost 6 points) Total - 26 (30 points) A male is randomly generated 35 Strength points. He wants to be unusually strong in Air and Spirit and so distributes his 35 points as shown below, sacrificing some of his overall strength to be stronger in those elements (thus, his end result of a Strength score of 32): Air - 7 (9 points) Earth - 7 (7 points) Fire - 7 (7 points) Spirit - 8 (10 points) Water - 2 (2 points) Total - 32 (35 points) So you’ve got your Strength scores like Egwene the Aes Sedai. But that doesn’t mean that you start off your first day of channelling with your full capabilities. Much like Egwene in the books, you will develop slowly into your strength. Milestones in your role-playing generally denote increases in your Power. When you first start, you have very little power, usually around one third of your total potential Strength. A promotion (for example when Egwene becomes Accepted, or Aes Sedai) or an important event in a character’s life (such as when Egwene trains as a damane for the Seanchan) will be the general reasons for increasing a character’s current Strength. The only means by which a character may ever exceed his/her assigned Strength potential is by the use of an angreal/sa’angreal or by linking (more on this later). The following tables give examples of the levels of progression for an average male and female channeler from the Black Tower and White Tower. Level Male Female Beginner (Soldier/Novice) 11 9 Intermediate (Dedicated/Accepted) 21 19 Final (Asha’man/Aes Sedai) 32 28 Role-play using these scores as a guide. Someone with an eight or nine for one of the Five Powers is going to find using it a breeze, and will be able to do more complex things with it than someone with a lower score. Someone with a one would barely be able to use the particular Power it related to at all. ---- Skill Skill is as important as Strength and thus is rated, like Strength, on a scale of 1-50. The average male level of skill is 28, female 32. As with Strength, your Skill score is assigned to you when your biography is approved. Female scores range from 26-38, Males from 22-34 Most channelers start with a low Skill, however progression is fairly rapid. The following table shows Skill advances for average male/female channelers from the Black Tower/White Tower respectively. Average levels of skill: Level Male Female Beginner (Soldier/Novice) 9 11 Intermediate (Dedicated/Accepted) 19 21 Final (Asha’man/Aes Sedai) 28 32 Despite indications from Robert Jordan’s books to the contrary, we are choosing not to factor in age/experience with Skill scores. The logistics of doing this across the Divisions (everywhere from the Aes Sedai, to Forsaken, to possibly in the future the Knitting Circle) and trying to compare it with characters who have a natural abundance of skill like Nynaeve would be a nightmare. So don’t expect your character (Eliza), simply because she is three hundred years old, to be more skilled than Egwene the newly raised Aes Sedai. However, Eliza has seen a lot more, and been a great deal many more places, one would expect, so she might not be surprised by an encounter with a band of trollocs, where Egwene might be. This is an example of a situation modifier (more on this later). Due to the lack of modifiers for age/experience, a character cannot increase in Skill beyond the potential they are assigned upon the approval of their character biography. ---- Potency Potency is a measure of your character’s overall potential with the One Power, taking both Strength and Skill into account. Potency is measured out of 100, and consists of the sum of your Strength and Skill scores. Potency may never exceed 100 unless via the use of an angreal/sa’angreal, or in the special circumstances of linking (more on this later). Thus, Egwene the Aes Sedai with a Strength score of 29, and a skill score of 30 would have an overall potency of 59. Both men and women have the same average Potency score (the average male has 60 from 28 Skill and 32 Strength, the average female has 60 from 32 Skill and 28 Strength). This accounts for their equal overall potential with the One Power, where women balance out men’s greater strength with greater skill, and vice versa. It allows some form of overall comparison between the sum of a character’s abilities against another character. ---- Situational Modifiers If Egwene the Aes Sedai has a Potency of 69, and Logain the Asha’man a Potency of 75, it does not mean that Logain beats Egwene all the time. There may be numerous other “situational modifiers” to take into account. For example, Logain may be very tired after a day of channelling, putting him closer to Egwene’s level of Potency, or perhaps below it, for the duration of whatever conflict they are trying to resolve. Or alternatively, perhaps Egwene has some sand flicked in her eyes which is making it hard for her to see well, and thus she’s having trouble placing her threads of the Power, making her even easier picking for Logain. Several of these factors could be in play at once, and it’s up to the players to decide how they want to resolve the situation. Instead of looking at your scores and organising the role-play around them, try organising the role-play how you want it to unfold first, then use your scores as a guide for how to make that happen. A book example of this is when Nynaeve first defeats Moghedien, by striking her on the head with the a’dam bracelet intended for channelling men. Basically, situational modifiers are the way to avoid feeling completely restricted by your scores. Don’t let them restrain you, simply use them as a guide to achieve the real goals you’re setting in your role-playing. If you are having difficulty resolving situational modifiers for a particular role-play, try talking to your friends about it and see if they have any advice to help you out. Failing resolution at that level, move up to your Division staff, including your Division Leader. If you’re still having trouble, start considering whether or not you really want to carry out the thread in the manner you previously intended. Final action is to take the issue to the Incarnations. sentence If you’re going to bug the Incarnations over it, make sure it’s worth your trouble AND theirs before you do so, please. They are there to help, and are willing if you approach them the right way, but don’t just say “Johnny says he’s more powerful and I don’t think he is because I’ve got this uber-angreal of super-duper greatness that makes me WAY more kick-ass than him… right??” Talents All Talents will be assigned by request to your Division Leader. Every Division’s allotment of Talents has been approved by the Incarnations. Many characters will not have any Talents. The overwhelming majority of those who do will have no more than one Talent (excepting unusual circumstances for major characters/Forsaken). A character receiving a Talent that has Strength or Skill requirements higher than the scores originally assigned to him/her may have to negotiate changes to their scores (and possibly accept permanent situational modifiers, such as physical impairment, unusual difficulty channelling under pressure, etc) with the person making the assignation, or forfeit their chance to have the Talent being offered to them. Yes, the price may sound harsh, however you may find that the negotiations produce a much richer, deeper character, and one that will be more rewarding to play in the long run. Many Talents take time to manifest, so even though you may be assigned them at character creation (upon approval of your biography), it may be some time (perhaps not until the intermediate, or even advanced stage of your character development) before you are able to bring them into play. Any such conditions will be made aware to you upon assignation of the Talent. Still other Talents may be restricted until a certain point in the timeline is reached. For example, in the Dragon Reborn Portal Stone World, an Asha’man may have the “angreal manufacture” Talent. However, the Talent may well lie dormant until the rebirth of the Dragon and establishment of the amnesty and official proclamation revealing the Black Tower. Even then there may be harsh restrictions replaced on such ‘latent’ Talents. Linking Linking, or forming a circle is intended to increase the amount of strength available, when the raw potential of one channeler is not enough. Women can link up to thirteen, but any more requires a man. Men have no ability to link without a woman. In a link, one person has control of all the flows, and they are called the leader, or focus. Though not necessarily the most powerful person in the circle, they are almost always the most skilful. The role-playing effect of linking is to create effectively one channeler with greater strength. The effective Strength of the circle is not, however, as strong as the sum Strength of all the channelers involved in the circle. The equation for linked strength is as follows: (Average Strength of the members of the circle) x (modifier) The modifiers will be set on a base 1.5 with 0.1 added for each channeler that is added to the circle. A circle of 2 channelers would have a modifier of 1.5, a circle of 3 channelers would have a modifier of 1.6, and so on. The Skill of a circle is that of the leader. For example, if Egwene (Strength 29), Logain (Strength 34) and Elayne (Strength 29) link, here is how to work out the overall strength of the circle: Average Strength (92 ¸ 3 = 31) Multiply the result by the modifier for 3 channelers (31 x 1.6 = 50). If Elayne is leading the circle, with a skill of 33, then the overall Potency of the circle would be 50 + 33 = 88. Large circles are one of the few situations where potency can exceed the 100 limit normally placed upon it. Here is an example: A circle of 13 Aes Sedai with a hypothetical average Strength of 28. Using the appropriate modifier of 2.2 you would have the following result: Average Strength (28) x modifier (2.6) = 73 If Elayne is again leading this circle, with her Skill of 33, then the overall potency would be 73 + 33 = 106 If the result comes out as a decimal (for example, 109.84657) round to the nearest whole number where possible (previous example would become 110). If the decimal is an exact half (109.5) round the result down (to 109). Angreal and Sa’angreal Each angreal or sa’angreal is individual and unique. Every Division’s allotment of angreal has been approved by the Incarnations. This means do NOT assume ownership/possession of an angreal without checking with your Division Leader first. Similarly, no discovering (or creating!!) angreal or ter’angreal without prior approval from the Incarnations responsible for your Portal Stone World. All angreal work in the same way - they boost overall strength, so that a channeler is not tired as quickly as if they were channeling unaided. They also have a buffer which prevents drawing too much of the Source. Each angreal has a Multiplication Factor of the channeller’s own Strength. Multiples can include decimals, however the result produced should be rounded in the same way as results for linking (see previously). Some angreal/sa’angreal may also have a limiting factor to them, which can take any whole numerical value. A limiting factor represents the absolute maximum that can be drawn through an angreal (thus, the maximum addition to a character’s base Strength score), regardless of the Multiplication factor. · Angreal: Multiple Factor of channeller’s own strength (1-3) · Sa’angreal: Multiple Factor of channeller’s own strength (4-6) Here’s an example of an angreal with a Limiting Factor to it. Esmerelda, with a One Power Strength of 20 uses an amber fish angreal. The angreal has a Multiplication Factor of 1.5 and a Limiting Factor of 10. When Esmerelda uses the angreal her effective One Power Strength becomes (20 x 1.5) equal to 30. This is also within the bounds of the angreal’s Limiting Factor (as it added 10, but no more, to her effective One Power Strength). When Nynaeve (One Power Strength of 40) uses the same angreal, her effective Strength would become (40 x 1.5) equal to 60. However, this increases her One Power Strength OVER the Limiting Factor of the angreal. Thus, Nynaeve’s score is adjusted such that her effective Strength is equal to her base strength + the Limiting Factor of the angreal (40 + 10 = 50). The Chosen from the books and where I think they would lie on our system… Name Strength Skill Potency Talents and other things of note Ishmaael 50 50 100 Dreamwalking Lanfear 48 48 96 Dreamwalking Aginor 47 47 94 Healking (strong), Aligning the Matrix (strong) Demandred 46 45 91 Residue resurrection Be’lal 45 45 90 Blademaster Rahvin 42 47 89 Compulsion (strong) Semirhage 41 47 88 Healing (strong) Balthamel 45 42 87 n/a Sammael 46 40 86 Blademaster Graendal 38 47 85 Compulsion (strong) Mesaana 41 42 83 Residue Ressurection Asmodean 37 44 81 n/a Moghedien 36 44 80 Dreamwalking Category:All Category:General